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“Minimalism is not a lack of something. It’s simply the perfect amount of something”

With days getting colder and after the long summer holiday, September was a month of coming back home. We spent our days creating a cosiness at home: cleaning, redecorating and hiding from the rain! As we are trying to settle in without spending money, we do a lot of upcycling works. One of the major projects was a pallet bed for our bedroom.

I love the fresh, clean, natural and cosy yet minimalistic look it gives to our bedroom. My previous bed frame was dark, which darkened room quite a lot. Now I cannot stop enjoying the light this bed emits to the room! I don’t think I have ever been happier with my bed! I am still working on some details and soon our bedroom makeover will be finished.

“Simplifying my outside invited me to trust my inside”

Last month I also discovered how to make absolutely free Horse Chesnut Detergent. You can use it for your laundry and home cleaning, so it can save a lot of money. But the best thing is that it is 100% natural!

I love sharing economy – I think it’s fun, personal and frugal. Last month I organised trades with a few other women – I made them my reusable produce bags and received some goods I needed in exchange (for example, this super cosy pyjama for my daughter which is her favourite for a few years now!). Instead of money exchange, we experienced an exchange of love, attention, acquaintance and conversations. Try it yourself!

“The sharing economy blows up the industrial model of companies owning and people consuming”

My 1 item this month

To sum up, even though I welcomed a few new items to my home I haven’t spent any money on them. However, there is one purchase that doesn’t fit into “necessary and unavoidable” category and I have to count it as my one item a month. It was a book for my daughter, Lithuanian version of “The Snow Queen”. I wanted this book for my daughter for a very long time, because of it’s beautiful illustrations, however, it’s quite an old book and therefore not available in bookstores. I was hunting it from second hand. When I saw it on FB, one mother was selling it for £4 – I couldn’t resist. This is one of those items that come into your home after a long waiting time and therefore will be treasured.

It’s not an easy task to settle in a new home while you are on A Year Without Shopping challenge. However, as my situation has proved, everything is possible if you really want it! A lot of rejected furniture got a second chance at my home such like dining table and chairs, TV stand. We managed to get it all for free, it took only time and love to breathe in a new life in them. When we were happy with our daughter’s room and sitting room, we decided to transform our bedroom too. At first, we wanted to change our old dark bed. We wanted something simple, natural and light and we realised that pallet bed will be a perfect option! And in a wink, we were at Bristol Wood Recycling Project looking for wood pallets.

The advantages of using the beautiful material of pallet wood are numerous. They are cheap, very easy to find and you can get them for free. Healthy strong wood and sturdy structure ensure high quality and long lasting piece. Pallet furniture is also eco-friendly because they are a wonderful alternative to other store available materials and furniture. Not to mention the actual beauty of the wood! I love their natural, raw texture with all its small perfect imperfections. Using pallets you will have a unique and very special piece in your home.

When choosing pallets it is important to not only get good quality ones but also to make sure that the spacing between slats is not too far apart. We managed to find pallets in very good condition. Because they were really large, 3 pallets were enough to make a bed – two for the bed frame and one for a headboard.

The most important and probably the most time-consuming part of the project is sanding the pallets. You have to sand them really responsibly if you don’t want to get a splinter! Using an electric sander my husband sanded pallets and I jumped on painting. With this project, I used Silk Matt Finish white paint from Lidl. I applied two coats and the best part is that it doesn’t require any finish as it’s 2 in 1. The paint doesn’t have to be perfect as the majority of pallets will be under the mattress and I don’t mind to see some bare wood anyway.

“Summer is like childhood; full of warm memories and gone too soon”

Carlone thermal waterfall (it. Cascata del Carlone) is quite small but very scenic waterfall in Italy. Maybe not the waterfall itself, but given its remote location deep in the wild and beautiful mountains around, it was one of the highlights of our holiday in Italy. I already visited quite a few impressive waterfalls but somehow, this little one managed to steal the most room in my heart! And I promised that I will come back there again and again.

The road to get up to the mountains is very narrow and winding. There is no official parking in a village but villagers welcomed us very warmly and showed where we can leave our car by their house. It took approximately 20 min walking from the village to get to the waterfall and the path was narrow and rocky, but the scenes were amazing!

After 20 min we reached the beautiful Carlone waterfall. At its foot, there is a small pond of thermal water. Carlone water torrent is thermal because of the high concentration of salt. Apparently, in the 11th century, the monks from a nearby convent used it to cure skin diseases!

As it was my mum’s birthday, we had a picnic there and stayed for all day, while girls were splashing in thermal waters and just enjoying great outdoors.

The way back home is quite challenging too, but our girls are quite experienced travellers already and take challenges with an enthusiasm! Then they climbed up the hill they were very proud of themselves and I was happy, that it was easier than I thought.

This beautiful wild place holds a very special place in my heart. I feel very blessed I am able to travel and to visit so many wonderful places around the world -art, culture and architecture. However, sometimes simple places are the most magical. See with your heart!

The majority of tea-drinkers choose tea bags rather than tea leaves – 96% to be exact. But they may not be aware that some tea bags actually contain plastic! Tea bag brands use polypropylene, a sealing plastic, to keep the tea bags in shape in boiling water. Only a few well-known brands to mention, such as Tetley, PG Tips, Twinnings – their tea bags contain plastic. Even though it’s a relatively small amount when you consider the 6bn cups of tea that are brewed up every year in the UK, it makes around 150 tonnes of plastic waste that is either contaminating food waste compost collections or simply going to landfill. There is also lots of evidence that plastics when heated leak toxins.

Along with a dose of the ritual comfort of drinking tea, there’s also the health-giving benefits of herbal teas, lauded for antioxidants and more. But recent research has uncovered the possibility of pesticides and other carcinogenic chemicals in your tea because tea trees are sprayed with chemicals and pesticides. The research found multiple chemicals in eight out of 10 popular brands tea. Half the teas contained pesticide levels in excess of allowable limits and such brands like Tetley, Lipton and Twinings, were among those highest in pesticide contamination.

It appears that tea market is a dirty business. Tea production requires harvesting the leaves by hand and has long been associated with the poor treatment of workers. They are poorly paid, live in poor conditions lacking privacy and women (they make up 75-85 % of the tea picking workforce) often experience a sexual harassment. The poor treatment of workers is not limited to adults. Reports of child labour have been made on tea plantations across the globe.

Chemicals used in tea plantations have a negative impact not only on the environment, but tea workes too. From direct contact with them, people get cancer and dies. In India, 4 dead elephants were found after they eated grass sprayed with pesticides near the tea plantation. Tea gardens also contributes to deforestation and human-elephant conflict is on going. It makes us double think about how ethical or healthy is our tea. So what can we do about it?

Simply look back at our grandparents. Thyme, linden, chamomile, mint, raspberry, blackberry leaves… Your locally grown and dried herbs are perfect for your ethical an healthy tea! I never buy tea and drink only homemade herbal teas. In the above picture are jars with my herbs picked and dried by me, my mum and aunts. This year I foraged elderflower and shared a detailed post on how to dry it for tea (the jar on a right). But if you are not keen to make your own tea, make sure you buy fairtrade and organic, preferably loose tea.

“Learning is an experience. Everything else is just an information”

My daughter is obsessed with fossils! She has a collection of stones and minerals and asked me to buy some fossils from the museum’s shop quite a few times as she wanted to add them to her collection. I promised to take her on a fossil hunt so she can find one herself! It would make her fossils very special!

Fossil collecting is a perfect way to connect with the past. There is something mysterious and incredibly powerful about holding millions of years old creature in your hand! Together with my niece, we spent the afternoon at Lilstock beach where girls learn all about the dramatic coastline and wildlife that inhabit it. We have been lucky enough to spot lots of huge fossils that girls tried to recognise using a book about fossils from the library. They also managed to find a few small ones to take home to their collections. Together with some beautiful stones of course!

If you or your child is interested in fossils, then go for a hunt! It’s so interesting and fun! Before doing so, I would recommend to read a guide and best locations for collecting fossils. You can also take a guided fossil walk at Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre where experienced wardens will share their knowledge and experience with you or your little one. We haven’t been there yet, but it’s on our list!